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UNIVERSITY OF OREGON PUBLICATION 

VOL. I SEPTEMBER, 1920 NO. 7 



A Study of the Mental, Pedagogical and 

Physical Development of the Pupils of 

the Junior Division of the University 

High School, Eugene, Oregon 




BY 
GILES MUEREL RUCH 



i^ «^^ 



C5 



%12I0' 



Application made at the postoffice at Eugene, Oregon, for entrance as second-class matter 



UNIVERSITY OF OREGON PUBLICATION 

The University of Oregon Publication Series is oifered in exchange for the 
publications of learned societies and institutions, universities, and libraries. 
Address inquiries to MANAGER, UNIVERSITY PRESS, EUGENE, 
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON, EUGENE, OREGON. 

Vol. 1. No. 1. The Efficiency of Oregon Children in the Tool Sub- 
jects as Sho-wn by Standard Tests. By Chester Arthur 
Gregory, pp. 51. Tables. November, 1919 $1.00 

No. 2. An Experimental Investigation of the Process of 
Choosing. By Rajnmond H. Wheeler, pp. 59. January, 
1920. 1.00 

No. 3. Earthquakes in Oregon. By Warren Dupre Smith. 

Reprint. Map. February, 1920 25 

No. 4. The Foster-Child Fantasy. By Edmund S. Conklin. 

Reprint. March, 1920 25 

No. 5. The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject. By Raymond H. 

Wheeler, pp. 61. May, 1920 1.00 

No. 6. Fossil Mollusks from the John Day Basin in Oregon. 

By G. Dallas Hanna 50 

No. 7. A Study of the Mental, Pedagogical and Physical De- 
velopment of the Pupils of the Junior Division of the 
University High School, Eugene, Oregon. By Giles 
- Murrel Ruch 1.00 



UNIVERSITY PRESS PUBLICATION COMMITTEE 

Eric W. Allen, Manager University Press, Chairman. 
F. G. Young W. F. G. Thacher E. L. Packard 

H. D. Sheldon A. R. Sweetser M. H. Douglass 



University PresIs 
1920 



.7Tf 



UNIVERSITY OF OREGON PUBLICATION 

Vol. I. September, 1920 No. 7 



A STUDY OF THE MENTAL, PEDAGOGICAL AND PHYS- 
ICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE PUPILS OF THE 
JUNIOR DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY 
HIGH SCHOOL, EUGENE, OREGON 

BY 
GILES MUREEL EUCH 

Principal of the University High School and 

Assistant Professor of Education 

University of Oregon 



OUTLINE 

Section I. Introductory. 

A. Statement of the Problem. 

B. Nature and Scope of the Investigation. 
Section II. Tests of General Intelligence. 

A. Individual. 

1. Stanford Eevision of Binet-Simon Tests. 

B. Group Tests. 

1. Army Group Examination Alpha. 

2. Chicago Group Intelligence Test. 

C. Teachers ' Estimates. 

Section III. Acceleration, Eetardation, and School Progress. 
Section IV. Measures of School Attainment. 

A. School Marks. 

B. Standard Educational Tests. 

1. Courtis Standard Research Tests in Arithmetic. 

2. Kansas Silent Reading Tests. 

3. Gregory Language Tests. 

4. Ayres Spelling Lists. 

5. Ayres Handwriting Scale. 

6. Douglass Standard Diagnostic Algebra Tests. 
Section V. Anthropometric Measurements. 

A. Height. 

B. Weight. 

C. Lung Capacity. 

D. Strength of Grip. 

Section VI. Correlations, Discussion, and Conclusions. 

A. Reliability of Tests of Intelligence in Comparison with Teachers' 

Estimates. 

B. Use of Tests as a Basis for Special or Forced Promotions. 

C. Relation of Intelligence to Eetardation. 

D. Physical Factors in Relation to School Work. 

E. Correlations in School Abilities. 

F. Establishment of Just Standards for School Accomplishment. 

G. Conclusion. 



1] 



study of Pupil Development 

SECTION I. 
INTRODUCTORY 

The Problem 

The purpose of this investigation is that of suggesting in several 
directions how the methods of the scientific study of educational 
problems through the medium of the various tests of general intelli- 
gence, pedagogical attainment, physical development, and the like, 
can be applied to the practical problems of school administration. 

The position is taken here that these types of objective measure- 
ments mentioned above, although admittedly as yet in the experi- 
mental stage, can furnish data of the greatest value in supplement- 
ing the traditional methods long in use as the basis for promotions, 
assignment of school marks, establishment of just standards of 
attainment, and many other similar problems of the administrator 
and teacher. It should be emphasized at the outset that it is not 
the purpose or spirit of this discussion to advocate the substitution 
of new and not thoroughly established practices for those methods 
which time has perfected and found valuable, but rather, to advo- 
cate the addition of these newer methods as supplementary sources 
of knowledge and thus make surer the validity of our school room 
practices. An imperfect tool is often better than no tool at all and 
a new tool of inferior design is often more serviceable than a once- 
excelleut old instrument. Wliat is needed is a judicious use of both 
the old and the new methods of educational practice. 

Nature and Scope of the Investigation 

The experimental work reported here is confined to the three 
grades of the junior divisioji of the University High School at 
Eugene, Oregon. These are the three years of the tj'pical junior 
high school under the 6-3-3 plan, i. e., extending from the seventh 
up to and including the ninth grades. The classifications dealing 
with age and grade and practically all of the tests were made dur- 
ing the second semester of the school year 1919-20. In a very few 
cases the data were obtained late in the year 1919. In the grades 
included there are about one hundred and twenty-five pupils rang- 
ing in age from less than twelve years to twenty years in one case. 

The pupils of the University' High School are practically an 
unselected group as far as entrance restrictions or preferences for 

I 2] 



University of Oregon High School 

admission are concerned. In accordance with an agreement entered 
into with the school authorities of the city schools of Eugene, the 
University High School draws from a certain section adjacent to the 
school in much the same way as do the other separate schools of the 
city. However, in spite of this arrangement, the students of the 
school represent a composite group composed of two distinct and 
very different elements. The first element comprises the pupils 
from the homes of people professionally connected with the State 
University. Since the school is an integral part of the School of 
Education of the University and is located on the campus in the 
building primarily used for the Department of Education, the 
University High School quite naturally draws heavily from faculty 
homes. It will be shown later that intellectually and culturally 
these pupils are above normal. The other element presents a sharp 
contrast in that this group of pupils represents homes that are 
socially and economically somewhat inferior, if anything, to those 
of certain other districts of the town. The parents of this second 
group are to a large extent day laborers and chiefly of the unskilled 
type. Although neither of these groups is numerically large, they 
do act as selective agencies which must later be taken into account 
in certain of the findings discussed in this paper. 
The tests given fall into three classes : 

1. Tests of general intelligence. 

2. Standard educational tests. 

3. Physical or anthropometric measurements. 

In each case several different types of tests are given and these 
will be discussed under the appropriate headings in later sections 
of this study. The final section will deal with the attempt to cor- 
relate and classify these diverse measurements, to show their admin- 
istrative implications, to suggest problems which can be attacked by 
this method, and, finally, to draw certain conclusions apparent in 
the statistical treatments used here which are of interest to school 
administrators and teachers in the public schools, particularly in 
junior high schools. 

Specific acknowledgments for assistance in the work reported 
here are numerous since the detailed experimentation was done at 
all times in a co-operative way. Especially was the assistance of 
Professor H. R. Douglass of the Department of Education of the 
greatest value at all times, both in a material way and for helpful 
criticisms. Together with Mr. Peter L. Spencer, the former is 
chiefly responsible for the section on standard educational tests. 

[3] 



study of Pupil Development 

Miss Lexie Strachan, Mr, George E. Finnerty and the writer gave 
the individual Binet examinations. The first two mentioned worked 
under the direct supervision of Professor B. W. DeBusk of this 
department. Mr. Finnerty also assisted with the physical measure- 
ments for the boys and Professor Harriet W. Thomson of the 
Department of Physical Education for Women of the University 
kindly gave the services of her class in anthropometry for the 
physical measurements of the girls. Miss Strachan also checked 
some of the statistical treatments. The following members of the 
University High School staff made the estimates of intelligence 
quoted in Section III : Professor Douglass, Mrs. Geo. B. Goodall, 
Mrs. Edith B. Pattee, Mrs. Geo. S. Bendshadler, Mr. Victor P. 
Morris and Mr. Peter L. Spencer. 

SECTION II. 
TESTS OF GENERAL INTELLIGENCE 

For the purposes of this investigation it was finally decided that 
the Binet-Simon tests as revised and extended by Dr. L. M. Terman 
and his associates offered the highest degree of reliability of any 
single criterion of native ability or general intelligence. These 
tests have been carefully standardized and have the additional 
advantage of having been widely used upon California and eastern 
children. If marked sectional differences exist in the results of the 
use of intelligence tests, Oregon children would be likely to resemble 
California school pupils more closely than those of eastern states. 

The tests were in all cases given in a quiet room with only 
subject and examiner present. Care was taken to establish a good 
working "rapport" between the pupil and the examiner. The exam- 
iners were in all cases persons trained in psychological methods and 
the technique of intelligence testing. In cases of doubtful points in 
scoring all three examiners joined in arriving at an agreement. 
With few exceptions the responses of the pupils were recorded 
verbatim upon the regular test forms supplied by the author of the 
tests. 

The group tests used were two in number, the Army Group 
Examination Alpha and the Chicago Group Intelligence Test de- 
vised by Freeman and Rugg, In each case the exact directions fur- 
nished by the authors were followed without deviation. It was the 
original intention to use other group tests as supplementary and 

[41 



University of Oregon High ScJiool 

corroborative data, but this was later given up because of the 
marked danger of introducing practice effects since there is a consid- 
erable degree of similarity between most of the group tests in use to- 
day. The sizes of the groups taking the tests varied from ten to 
sixty, but at no time was a larger number tested at any one time. A 
large well-lighted room with arm-rest chairs was used for the exam- 
inations. All of the group tests were given by the writer with one or 
more assistants present to supervise the work. It is interesting to 
record that not a single attempt at cheating was noted by the 
examiners in any of the tests. 

It is not thought that group tests do more than approximate the 
accuracy of the individual examinations but they do possess certain 
advantages from the administrative point of view which weigh 
heavily in actual school practice, viz., the great economy in time 
consumed in giving the tests. A group of one or even two hundred 
pupils may be tested in forty-five minutes with the Alpha test or in 
slightl}^ less than thirty minutes with the Freeman-Rugg scale. It 
would therefore be possible to test entire schools where the enroll- 
ment does not exceed the number stated above at one time. An 
hour 's time cannot well be held to be prohibitive, and there are few 
sources of information of vital significance which are more econom- 
ical in time or effort expended. More will be said later on upon the 
topic of the practical applications of intelligence ratings. 

Tables 1-10 and graph 1 summarize the various findings and are 
self-explanatory for the most part. Table 1 gives the classification 
of the degrees of intelligence as tentatively suggested by Professor 
L. M, Terman of Stanford University, 

TABLE 1 

Terman 's Classification of the Intelligence Quotients* 

/. Q. Classification. 

Above 140 " Near ' ' genius or genius. 

120-140 Very superior intelligence. 

110-120 Superior intelligence. 

90-110 Normal, or average intelligence. 

80-90 Dullness, rarely classifiable as f eeble-mincledness. 

70-80 Border-line deficiency, sometimes classifiable as dull- 
ness, often as feeble-mindedness. 
Below 70 Definite feeble-mindedness. 

In the tables of the distributions of the scores which follow, the 
scores fo? the Arm,y Alpha are in all cases the "raw" scores ; in the 

*Terman, L. M. : The Measurement of Intelligence, Houghton MifBin Co., Boston, 
1916. p. 79. 

[5] 



Study of Pupil Development 



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[6] 



University of Oregon High School 

Freeman-Rugg tests, the scores are weighted according to their 
standards. The number of pupils included varies from 116 to 121 
in the separate distributions since a very few pupils missed one or 
more of the tests due to absence from school. One hundred and 
sixteen took all three intelligence tests. 

Table 6 shows the comparative reliabilities of the two group 
itests as shown by the degree of correlation existing between them 
and the mental age ratings of the individual Stanford Binet tests. 
The reliability of the Alpha test appears to be somewhat greater, 
the Pearson coefficient of correlation being 0.73 in comparison with 
0.62 for the Chicago scale. It should be remembered at this point 
that the latter is a briefer test from the standpoint of the time used 
in giving, and that this fact would, everything else being equal, 
explain any small difference in the reliability of the tests. The same 
table shows that the individual tests of the two scales show similar 
differences in the size of the coefficients of correlation in favor of 
the army tests. 

Tables 8 and 9 are devoted to the question of the reliability of 
teachers' estimates. Table 8 shows the results of six experienced 
teachers' ratings under very, if not unusually, favorable circum- 
stances. The six teachers making the ratings were all intimately 
acquainted with the pupils rated, in fact, they were instructed to 
omit from consideration any pupils with whom they were little 
acquainted and where the ratings would be little more than guesses. 
The instructions were to assign each pupil of the school a rank of 
from I to X in the order of the most intelligent to the dullest. 
These ten groups were then re-ranked within the groups and the 
pupils numbered 1, 2, 3, etc. Thus it was possible to arrange all the 
pupils of the school into one list. It must be noted that the pro- 
cedure in obtaining these ratings was very different from that used 
by most investigators in that the instructions included a number of 
specific cautions against certain typical forms of error likely to 
arise in estimating intelligence. The teachers were warned against 
the following : 

1. Always consider age in relation to grade. A pupil might appear more 
intelligent than most of his class because of being two or more years older than 
his fellows and be in reality a dull rather than a bright pupil. (The exact age 
to the nearest month was furnished on the lists given to each teacher.) 

2. Bright looks, vivacity, snappiness of manner, alertness, sparkling eyes, 
bluff, loquacity, etc., often pass for intelligence. 

3. Good work habits, high grades, etc., often pass for ability. Likewise the 
tendency is to underrate the lazy pupil. 

4. Disciplinary considerations often influence the teacher making the rating. 

[7] 



Study of Pupil Development 

Under the circumstances as described in the foregoing it is not 
surprising that the teachers' ratings show such high degrees of 
reliabilicy as is evidenced by the correlations of table 8, In some 
cases the individual teachers used several hours in the course of 
arriving at the estimates. In view of these considerations, it seems 
entirely likely that our results represent a close approximation to 
the best results to be obtained by the method of estimation, 
Terman and Proctor* did not report such high coefficients as our 
study, the combined estimates showing an r equal to 0.59 in com- 
parison with 0.68 for the pooled results of the six University High 
School teachers. The average r was likewise 0.68. 

In order to compare the results of inexperienced teachers with 
those of the regular staff of the school, ten practice teachers were 
asked to rate the pupils of their own classes. No cautions or explan- 
ations which were of value in guarding against errors were given 
this group of teachers, mostly University seniors. Table 9 gives the 
results of their estimates. Here the average is approximately 0.50. 
Aside from the directions given to the regular teachers, the practice 
teachers worked under more favorable conditions since they rated 
only pupils in their own classes and in all cases the numbers were 
much smaller. As has often been pointed out correlations of the 
inexperienced teachers' ratings with school marks are almost cer- 
tain to prove greater than such ratings with the results of intelli- 
gence tests, showing that school work is a chief basis for such esti- 
mates. In the case of practice teacher "J," these correlations are, 
respectively, 0.68 and 0.26. 

Table 10 is included as a presentation of the displacement of 
pupils by the method of estimates from the order determined by the 
use of the Binet tests upon the rough assumption that the groups 
I to X of the estimates correspond to certain ranges of the I. Q. 
Less than one-fifth of the pupils appear to be correctly located 
(16.9 per cent) but about three-fifths are correctly located or not 
seriously displaced (61.3 per cent no more than one group). How- 
ever, a displacement of two or more groups occurs almost two out of 
five times (38.9 per cent) and this amount of error might in extreme 
cases displace a pupil for a distance equal to that of the difference 
beiween the highest and lowest quartiles at certain parts of the 
range. More will be said at a later time about the possibility of 
teachers' estimates approximating the value of the tests of 
intelligence. 



♦Terman. L. M. : The Intelligence of School Children, Boston, 1919, Houghton Mifflin, 
pp. 84-86. 



[8] 



Umversity of Oregon High School 



TABLE 2 

Showing the distribution of mental and chronological ages of 121 pupils of 
the junior division (grades 7-9 inclusive). 



Age 


9 


10 


11 


12 13 14 


15 


16 


17 


18 


19 


20 


C. A 








4 


24 37 24 


18 


7 


5 





1 


1 


M. A 


1 


4 


6 


8 19 30 
TABI;E 3 


18 


18 


12 


5 









Showing the distribution of the scores in Army Alpha for the three grades of 
the junior division. 

0-19 20-39 40-59 60-79 80-99 100-119 120-139 140-159 

1 2 13 27 29 24 15 5 



TABLE 4 

Showing the distribution of the scores in the Chicago Group Intelligence Test 
for the three grades of the junior division. 

0-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 

1 12 22 31 27 12 11 2 



TABLE 5 

Showing the median scores in the several intelligence tests for the three 
grades of the junior division. 

C. A. M. A. I. Q. Alpha Chicago 

13-11 14-9 107.0 89.0 38.0 



TABLE 6* 

Showing the Pearson coefficients of correlation between the mental ages 
obtained by the Stanford Eevision of the Binet-Simon tests and the two-group 
scales. 

r P. E. 

Army Group Examination Alpha 0.728 .033 

Chicago Group Intelligence Test 0.622 .038 

The separate tests : 

Chicago Army Alpha 

r P.E. r P.E. 

"Opposites" (1) 0.372 .053 (4) 0.596 .042 

"Niunber Completion" (2) 0.368 .054 (5) 0.418 .052 

(3) 0.479 .048 

"Analogies" (4) 0.475 .048 (7) 0.460 .050 

"Best Eeasons" (5) 0.400 .052 (3) 0.456 0.50 

No. pupils 118 116 



*RUCH, G. M. and Strachan, Lexie : A Comparison of Intelligence Ratings Obtained 
by the Use of Two Group Scales with those of the Stanford Revision of the Binet Tests. 
To appear in the Journal of Educational Psychology, October. 1920. 



[9] 



study of Pupil Development 



TABLE 7 

Showing the distribution of the I. Q. 's for the 121 pupils of the junior 
division of the University High School, Eugene, Oregon, in absolute numbers 
and percentages, in comparison with the distributions for Terman's 905 unse- 
lected children* and Chase and Carpenter 's composite group at Chapel Hill, 
North Carolina, t 



I. Q. 



56-65 

66-75 

76-85 

86-95 

96-105 

106-115 

116-125 

126-135 

136-145 



University High School 



Absolute 

Numbers. 

2 

5 

5 

21 

27 

21 

22 

15 

3 



Percent- 
ages. 
1.4 
4.2 
4.2 

17.4 

22.3 

17.4 

18.2 

12.4 
2.5 



Terman 


Chapel Hill 


Percent- 


Percent- 


ages. 


ages. 


0.33 


1.5 


2.3 


7.7 


8.6 


20.0 


20.1 


43.1 


33.9 


23.1 


23.1 


4.6 


9.0 


0.0 


2.3 


0.0 


0.55 


0.0 



TABLE 8 

Showing the correlations of the individual teachers' estimates and the 
pooled estimates of the six teachers with the intelligence quotients as obtained 
by the Binet tests. 



Teacher 


r P.E. 


N. 


A 


0.70 .041 


72 


B 


0.71 .034 


96 


C 


0.72 .060 


29 


D 


0.70 .051 


45 


E 


0.66 .044 


75 


F 


0.61 .047 


80 


Pooled 


0.68 .037 


95 


Average 


0.68 

TABLE 9 





Showing the correlations of ten individual practice teachers ' estimates of 
intelligence with the I. Q. of the Binet tests. 



Teacher 


r 


P.E. 


N. 


Subject Taught 


A 


0.54 


.108 


20 


Biology 


B 


0.16 


.170 


15 


English 


C 


0.76 


.063 


20 


General Science 


D 


0.46 


.140 


14 


General Science 


E 


0.54 


.195 


6 


French 


F 


0.48 


.122 


18 


Algebra 


G 


0.36 


.170 


12 


English 


H 


0.67 


.166 


5 


French 


I 


0.76 


.078 


13 


General Science 


J 


0.26 


.113 


31 


Art 


Average 


0.495. 









♦Terman, L. M. : The Measurement of Intelligence, Boston, 1916, Houghton Mifflin 
Co., p. 66. 

tCHASE. H. W. and Carpenter, C. C. : The Response of a Composite Group to the 
Stanford Revision of the Binet-Simon Tests, Journal of Educational Psychology, 10, 1919, 
pp. 178-188. 



[10] 



University of Oregon High School 



TABLE 10 

Showing the displacement of pupils in terms of the number of groups which 
would result upon the basis of the use of the pooled estimates of six experi- 
enced teachers working under the most favorable circumstances (r=0.68 with 

the I. Q.)- , ... 

Displacement in terms of groups. 

Group. I-Q- 1 S 3 4 5 

I. Corresponding to 140 or above 14 3 2 

11. Corresponding to 130-139 15 4 3 

III. Corresponding to 120-129 4 7 4 2 2 

IV. Corresponding to 110-119 2 8 2 10 
V. Corresponding to 100-109 5 6 2 

VI. Corresponding to 90-99 16 10 10 

VII. Corresponding to 80-89 4 2 

VIII. Corresponding to 70-79 13 3 

IX. Corresponding to 60-69 2 

X. Corresponding to Below 60 1110 

Totals (1^=95) 16 42 22 12 3 

In percentages 16.9 44.2 23.2 12.6 3.1 0.0 

Summary 

Percentage correctly located (no displacement) 16.9 

Percentage displaced not more than one group 61.1 

Percentage displaced more than one group ^8.9 

Percentage displaced more than two groups 

Percentage displaced more than three groups 



15.8 
?.l 



SECTION III. 

ACCELERATION, RETARDATION, AND SCHOOL 
PROGRESS. 

In the tables which follow, particularly the age-grade table, 
acceleration and retardation were determined upon the basis advo- 
cated by Dr. L. P. Ayres* with one slight modification, viz., in 
locating age according to grade the pupil was considered to be at 
the age in which 50 per cent or more of the year's work for that 
grade was done instead of using the September-entering ages as 
most others have done. This is obviously somewhat truer to the 
facts and is advantageous in certain comparisons in which the exact 
age in years and months must be used. Table 11 gives the age- 
grade distribution for the three grades, in actual numbers and per- 
centages, and by sexes. Summaries of the same data are given in 
tables 12 and 13. 



♦Aybes, L. p.: Laggards in Our Schools, N. Y., Russel Sage, 1909. 
tiBID., p. 45. 

[11] 



Study of Pupil Development 

The chief facts of interest in these tables are : First, the extra- 
ordinarily large amount of acceleration in the school, amounting to 
about one-third of the total enrollment ; and, secondly, the small 
number classifiable as "at age" for grade. On the other hand the 
amount of retardation is about that of schools generally in this 
section. Ayrest reports 30.7 per cent for the Portland, Oregon, 
schools and the figures for the Eugene city schools run not far from 
30 per cent. 

The opportunity is presented here to call attention to certain 
facts about the problems of acceleration and retardation that have 
been neglected in most of the past studies but which are made pos- 
sible by the use of tests of general intelligence. If an age-grade table 
is prepared using mental ages instead of the actual ages as was done 
in preparing table 11, we find a strikingly different arrangement as 
is shown in table 14. The number of pupils "at grade" becomes 
less and the retarded group increases to include almost one-half of 
the total number (46.2 per cent). This change can be roughly de- 
scribed by the statement that: The accelerated pupils upon the 
l)asis of actual age tend to become retarded upon the basis of 
mental age, and that the reverse holds for the group considered 
retarded hy the usual standards. That this conclusion is actually 
true in individual cases as well as in the mass in shown by tables 
15, 16 and 17 where the exact changes resulting from re-classifica- 
tion by mental ages are shown in detail. 

At this point it is necessary that certain qualifications be stated 
in order to avoid implications which are not to be defended here. 
The re-grouping of pupils for mental ages is not intended to serve 
as an argument for placing pupils in the grades demanded by the 
mental ages, nor is it intended to assume that such mental age rat- 
ings are exact equivalents in all respects to the normal mentality at 
the given year, e. g., that a child of twelve testing at 18 years men- 
tally should be placed in grade 12, the normal grade for 18-year-old 
pupils. The only implication is that since a mental age greater than 
the actual age in any pupil is an indication of brightness, the 
accelerated pupils (who are rather generally of superior ability) 
are really retarded upon the basis of their true ability, and that 
the reverse is true of retarded pupils (who tend to be of sub-normal 
ability). Table 18 shows clearly that in every grade the acceler- 
ated pupils (who are, of course, actually younger) are older men- 
tally ("brighter") than the normal children, and that this superi- 
ority is in turn evident for the normal pupil in comparison with the 

[12 1 



University of Oregon High School 



TABLE 11 

Showing the Age-Grade distribution for the pupils of the three grades of 
the junior division of the University High School, February 1, 1920. 



Age 


Grade 


Total 








7 


8 


9 




B 
12 




4 
? 


4 
2 






8 
4 




B 
13 

G 


li 
ft 


7 

12 


1 


18 
21 




B 
14 

G 


3 
2 


5 
8 


3 


11 
15 




B 
15 




1 
1 


1 


6 


12 
8 




B 
16 

G 



3 


1 
3 


3 
3 


4 
9 




B 
17 








1 
1 


1 
3 


2 

4 




B 
18 

G 






2 




Q 


2 





B 
19 





1 













1 




B 
20 












1 


1 















Totals 


i 




B 
Total 
G 


19 
17 


25 
27 


14 
18 


58 
62 


120 


100.0 




B 
Aoo. 




4 
2 


11 
14 


3 
S 


18 
22 


40 


33.3 




B 
Norm. 
G 


11 
8 


5 
8 


6 
6 


22 
22 


44 


36.7 




B 

Ret. 



4 
7 


9 
5 


5 
6 


18 
18 


36 


30.0 




B 
Aco. G 


21.1 
11.8 


44.0 
51.9 


21.5 
33.3 


31.0 
35,5 








B 

% 
Norm.G 


57.8 
47.0 


20.0 
29.6 


42.3 
33.3 


1 37.9 
55.5 




B 

% 
Ret. G 


21.1 
41,2 


56.0 
18.5 


36,7 
33.5 


31.0 
29.0 







[13 



study of Pupil Development 

retarded one. The conclusion can safely be drawn that, mentally 
speaking, the accelerated pupils are really to a greater or less de- 
gree retarded. This conclusion also finds support in table 5 of the 
preceding section where it was shown that the pupils of the Uni- 
versity High School show a median I. Q. of 107.0 in comparison 
with the normal 100.0 for unselected children. This means that 
practically one-half of the 120 pupils of this school reach the level 
of intelligence of the highest one-quarter of children generally. 

The relations between these facts of acceleration and retardation 
and other portions of the experimental data will be taken up again 
in connection with the questions of grades, standard educational 
tests, and the general discussions of later sections. 



TABLE 12 

Showing the absolute numbers and percentages of acceleration and retard- 
ation for the three grades of the junior division. Sexes separate. 

Absolute 

Numbers Percentages 

Accelerated — 

Boys 18 31.0 

Girls 22 .35.5 
Normal — 

Boys 22 37.9 

Girls 22 35.5 
Eetarded — 

Boys 18 31.0 

Girls 18 29.0 



TABLE 13 

Showing the absolute numbers and percentages of accelerated, normal, and 
retarded pupils for the three grades. Sexes combined. 

Absolute 

Numbers Percentages 

Accelerated 40 33.3 

Normal 44 36.7 

Eetarded 36 30.0 

Total 120 100.0 



[14] 



University of Oregon High School 



TABLE 14 
Showing the absolute numbers and percentages of accelerated, normal, and 
retarded pupils for the three grades on the basis of Mental Ages, Sexes com- 
bined. 

Absolute 





Numhers 


Percentages 


Accelerated 


37 


31.1 


Normal 


27 


22.7 


Ketarded 


55 


46.2 



Total 119 100.0 

TABLE 15 
Showing the distribution of the 36 pupils who are retarded by the usual 
standards (i. e., upon the basis of actual age) if re-plotted upon the basis of 
Mental Age. Sexes combined. AU three grades 

Absolute 

Numbers Percentages 
Accelerated — 

One year 6 

Two years 4 

Three years 1 

Four years 4 

Total 15 41.7 

Normal — 

Total 10 27.8 

Retarded — 

One year 3 

Two years 6 

Three years 

Four years 2 

Total 11 30.5 

TABLE 16 
Showing the distribution of the 40 pupils who are accelerated by the usual 
standards (i. e., actual or chronological age) if re-plotted upon the basis of 
Mental Age. Sexes combined. All three grades. 

Absolute 

Numbers Percentages 
Accelerated — 

One year 5 

Two years 

Three years 1 



Total 


6 


15.0 


Normal — 






Total 


12 


30.0 


Retarded — 






One year 
Two years 
Three years 
Four years 


9 
8 
4 
1 





Total 22 55.0 

[15] 



study of Pupil Development 



TABLE 17 

Showing the distribution of the 44 pupils who are in the normal grade by 
the usual standards (i e., 13 for grade 7, 14 for grade 8, and 15 for grade 9, 
on the basis of the actual ages) if re-plotted upon the basis of Mental Ages. 
All grades. Sexes combined. 

Absolute 





Numbers 


Percentages 


Accelerated — 






One year 


7 




Two years 


3 




Three years 


2 




Total 


12 


27.3 


Normal — 






Total 


10 


22.7 



Eetarded — 

One year 5 

Two years 10 

Three years 6 

Four years 1 



Total 22 50.0 



TABLE 18 



Showing the median scores for the tests of general intelligence, both indi- 
vidual and group tests, for the accelerated, normal, and retarded groups of the 
seventh, eighth, and ninth grades. 





Number 


Binet-Simon 


(Stanford) 


Alpha 


Chica( 


Grade 7 


Fupils 


C.A. 


M.A. 


I.Q. 






Accelerated 


6 


11-11 


15-1 


124.0 


82.5 


43.0 


Normal 


19 


12-11 


14-1 


111.0 


70.0 


36.0 


Eetarded 


10 


14- 9 


13-1 


90.0 


54.5 


26.5 


Grade 8 — 














Accelerated 


25 


13- 


14-9 


115.0 


106.0 


43.0 


Normal 


13 


14- 


14-8 


101.0 


70.0 


26.5 


Eetarded 


14 


15- 7 


13-9 


89.5 


62.0 


29.5 


Grade 9 — 














Accelerated 


9 


14- 


.17-0 


122.0 


137.0 


56.0 


Normal 


12 


14-11 


16-9 


110.5 


118.0 


55.5 


Eetarded 


11 


16- 3 


14-3 


90.0 


93.0 


47.5 


Grades 7, 8, 


and 9 Combined — 










Accelerated 


40 


13- 2 


15-2 


117.0 


104.0 


43.0 


Normal 


44 


13- 7 


15-0 


105.0 


85.0 


35.5 


Eetarded 


35 


15- 9 


14-1 


90.0 


79.0 


31.0 



[16] 



University of Oregon High School 

SECTION IV. 
MEASURES OF SCHOOL ATTAINMENT 

For the purposes of portraying pedagogical standing and school 
progress, two types of measurements are available in addition to 
age-grade classification. These are teachers' marks and the scores 
in standard educational tests. Both will be considered in discussing 
this phase of this investigation. 

The average grade of each pupil was determined for the first 
semester of the present school year, 1919-20. Such an average 
represents, therefore, the combined estimates of from two to five 
teachers of the ability of the pupil in as many school subjects. In 
obtaining such averages no effort was made to correct for inequal- 
ities arising from the fact that certain pupils carried five or more 
subjects. Only the "core subjects" were considered, viz., English, 
history, science, foreign language, and commerce. Subjects reciting 
less than five times per week were not included. 

The list of standard educational tests given to part or all of the 
pupils follows : 

1. Courtis Standard Research Tests in Arithmetic. Series B. 

2. Stone Reasoning Tests. 

3. Gregory Language Tests (devised by Prof. C. A. Gregory of 
this University). 

4. Ayres Spelling Lists. 

5. Ayres Writing Scale. 

6. Kansas Silent Reading Test (devised by Dr. F. J. Kelly). 

7. Douglass Standard Diagnostic Tests for Elementary Alge- 
bra (devised by Prof. H. R. Douglass of this University). 

The standard tests were given under the direction of Professor 
H. R. Douglass by Mr. Peter L. Spencer and others. All were given 
during the second semester of the school year, chiefly during the 
month of April, and the exact technique of the authors w^as used in 
each case. 

Tables 19 to 22 show the average grades earned by the pupils 
classified in various waj^s as to grade, sex, age-grade distribution, 
and intelligence. Tables 23 to 32 give the results in the various 
standard educational tests according to similar classifications. 

Space limits make it imperative that the briefest possible discus- 
sion of these results be attempted. Only a few of the outstanding 
facts will be pointed out. 

[17] 



study of Pupil Development 

The grading system in use in the University High School pro- 
vides for the assignment of seven letter grades as follows : 

A+ Very superior work. 

A Superior work (25 per cent, approximately, receive A+ or A). 

B+ High average. 

B Low average (50 per cent, approximately, receive B-|- or B). 

C Barely passing. 

D Condition (given only during first six weeks of any term). 

E Failure (25 per cent, approximately, receive C. D. and E). 

In transmuting these letter grades into numerical scores based 
upon 100 per cent, the mid-points of the intervals were taken, 
respectively, as 97.5, 92.5, 87.5, 82.5, 77.5, 72.5, and 70.0. The last 
is purely arbitrary and is probably in most cases higher than the 
true grade for failures. 

The girls appear to do superior work in all grades. There are 
no significant differences in the average grades for the different 
years as often is the case in schools due, perhaps, to a tendency to 
grade older pupils higher than younger ones. The median grade 
for the school falls at 82.0. Since the grading system is an ap- 
proximation to the distribution of the normal curve, the median 
should theoretically fall close to 85.0. However, in our practice, it 
is the policy to keep the grades for the initial six weeks of any 
semester slightly below the norms for the system in use and allow 
the grades to rise throughout the semester, for psychological rea- 
sons, and finally to approximate the true standards for the school. 
It is evident from this that only the grades of the final six-week 
period of any semester will approximate very closely to the norms 
and that averages such as used above will invariably run too low. 

Tables 21-22 show how the failures are distributed among the 
pupils classified, first, as accelerated, at age, or retarded, and 
secondly, as superior, average, or inferior. Retarded pupils furnish 
six out of ten failures (61.1 per cent), at age pupils fail once out of 
four or five times (22.2 per cent), and accelerated pupils furnish 
about one failure in six (16.7 per cent). It is evident that the 
greater age of the retarded pupil does not compensate for low abil- 
ity to an extent that such pupils can maintain average scholarship. 
It will be remembered that the median grade for the retarded group 
is 78.0 in comparison with 82.5 for the at age pupils and 83.0 for 
the accelerated. It should again be pointed out that the retarded 
group is also younger mentally than the other two groups, the 
medians being, respectively, 14-1, 15-0, and 15-2. Upon the basis 
of the I. Q. as superior, normal, and inferior, the first group con- 

[18] 



University of Oregon High School 

tributes about one-tenth of the failures (11.2 per cent) and each of 
the other two contribute equally the balance (44.4 per cent each). 

Tables 23 and 24 give the summarized results in the standard 
educational tests for grades VII and VIII. It will be seen that for 
both grades the pupils of the University High School score well 
above the norms in all tests except in the fundamentals of arith- 
metic as shown by the Courtis tests and in writing. That a some- 
what poor showing in writing would prove true is not unexpected 
since the time allowed for this work during the past year is 
admittedly too little. Owing to unusual conditions in the school 
the time allotment for penmanship was reduced to one hour per 
week in the seventh grade and in the eighth grade only pupils 
markedly deficient in this respect were required to take penman- 
ship. In view of these unfortunate conditions, the showing is 
probably as good as can be expected. 

With respect to arithmetic ability in the tests of addition, sub- 
traction, multiplication, and division, the reason at first thought 
was not at all evident. Consultation with the three teachers han- 
dling the sections in arithmetic showed that they were unanimous 
in the belief that the pupils had entered this school from outside 
schools seriously below normal in their ability to handle these fun- 
damental processes. Realizing that there is always a tendency on 
the part of teachers to seek to locate the blame in the lower grades 
of the elementary school, it was decided to test out the matter fur- 
ther by the use of tests which deal with the type of problems more 
related to the work of the upper two grades. For this purpose the 
Stone Reasoning Tests were selected upon the hypothesis that since 
the operations tested by the Courtis tests are supposedly mastered 
helow the seventh grade, the gains registered in these tests in the 
upper grades are chiefly practice efifects and not due to new direct 
teaching of these processes. But the Stone tests provide a method 
of throwing into contrast the accuracy of the purely arithmetical 
operations and the reasoning processes involved in the solution of 
problems. If then, the former scores should be found to be low as 
was the case in the Courtis tests, and at the same time, the scores in 
the reasoning processes should prove to be normal or above, it 
would seem a justifiable conclusion to believe that the faulty in- 
struction was not that of the seventh and eighth grades but rather 
that of grades six and below where the fundamental processes are 
completed as far as direct instruction is concerned. Table 32 pre- 
sents strong evidence that this assumption is true. The question 

[19] 



Study of Pupil Development 

will be taken up in greater detail in the last section of this paper, 
which is devoted to general considerations. 

It should be pointed out in comparing the results in the standard 
tests with the norms quoted that most of our scores are April scores 
and not the June scores upon which the norms are based. This will 
explain any slight deficiencies of an unfavorable nature and at the 
same time strengthen any cases of superiority. 

The norms quoted for the Gregory Language Tests are tentative 
but are based upon about one thousand Oregon school children 
from fifty representative schools. 

The list of ten words used for the tests in spelling was taken 
from column "U" of the Ayres scale and the norms are those 
accompanying these lists. 

For the test materials in writing, the Gettysburg speech of Lin- 
coln was used, beginning "Four score and seven years " 

and ending ". . . . it is altogether fitting and proper that we 
should do this. ' ' The papers were graded by the usual methods by 
Mr. G. E. Finnerty of this school. 

TABLE 19 
Showing the grades earned by the pupils of the seventh, eighth and nintb 
grades during the semester ending February 5, 1920. The figures represent 
medians in all cases. 



Grade 


N 


Boiis 


Girls 


Co 


mbiiied 


7 


34 


80.0 


81.0 




81.0 


8 


53 


80.0 


82.5 




82.0 


9 


32 


81.5 


83.0 




82.0 


ire 3 grades 


119 


80.0 
TABLE 


83.0 
20 




82.0 



Showing the medians, averages, and ranges of the grades earned by the 
pupils of the three grades according to age-grade classification (t. e., acceler- 
ated, normal, and retarded) and sex. 

Medians Averages Eange N 

I. Accelerated Group — 



IL 



IIL 



Groups 



Boys 


82.5 


82.4 


72-93 


19 


Girls 


84.0 


83.3 


72-94 


22 


Both Sexes 


83.0 


83.0 


72-94 


41 


Normal Group — 










Bovs 


82.5 


82.0 


72-88 


22 


Girls 


82.5 


82.5 


65-95 


22 


Both Sexes 


82.5 


82.2 


65-95 


44 


Retarded Groux> — 










Boys 


77.0 


75.1 


67-82 


18 


Girls 


79.0 


79.2 


66-89 


17 


Both Sexes 


78.0 


77.2 


66-89 


35 


IS I, II, and III Combined — 








Boys 


80.0 


79.9 


67-93 


59 


Girls 


83.0 


81.8 


65-95 


61 


Both sexes 


82.0 


80.9 


65-95 


120 



20] 



University of Oregon High School 



TABLE 21 

Showing the distribution of pupils failing or conditioned (i. e., an average 
semester grade of 74 or below) according to age-grade classification as acceler- 
ated, normal, and retarded. 

Accelerated Normal Betarded Total 



Number failed 










or conditioned 


3 


4 


11 


18 


In percentages 


16.7 


22.2 


61.1 


100.0 


Number in group 


41 


44 


35 


120 


Per cent of group 










failed or conditioned 


7.3 


9.1 


31.4 


15.0 



TABLE 22 

Showing the distribution of pupils failing or conditioned (i. e., an average 
semester grade of 74 or below) according to the classification as "Superior" 
(L Q., Ill or above), "Average" (L Q., 90-110), and "Inferior" (L Q., 89 
or below). 

' ' Superior " " Average " "In ferior ' ' Total 



Number failed 










or conditioned 


2 


8 


8 


18 


In percentages 


11.2 


44.4 


44.4 


100.0 


Number in group 


50 


50 


20 


120 


Per cent of group 










failed or conditioned 


4.0 


16.0 


40.0 


15.0 



TABLE 23 

Showing the median scores in the standard tests given in grade VII in 
comparison with the published norms. 



1 


Vumier a 


ttempted 


Numl 


>er correct 


Sc 


'ore 


Tests 


Norm 


U. E. S. 


Norm 


V- H. S. 


Norm 


U. H. S. 


Courtis: 














Addition 


10.5 


7.0 


6.5 


4.0 






Subtraction 


11.5 


8.0 


8.5 


7.0 






Multiplication 10.0 


6.0 


6.5 


3.5 






Division 


8.5 


6.0 


7.0 


5.0 






Kansas Silent 


Eeading 


Test 






16.2 


21.4 


Gregory Language Test 








23.S* 


26.8 


Ayres Spelling 










73 


75 


Ayres Writing 










57 


48 



♦Gregory, C. A. : The Efficiency of Oj-egon School Children in the Tool Subjects, Uni- 
versity of Oregon Publication, 1, No. 1, 1919, p. 50. (Tentative norms based upon 1024 
Oregon seventh grade pupils representing 50 schools. ) 



21] 



study of Pupil Development 



TABLE 24 

Showing the median scores in standard tests given in grade VIII in com- 
parison with the published norms. 

Number attempted Number correct Score 

Norm U-H.S. Norm U.H.S. Norm U.H.S. 



Courtis: 



Addition 12.0 9.0 


8.0 


6.0 






Subtraction 12.5 9.0 


10.0 


7.0 






Multiplication 11.5 8.0 


8.0 


6.0 






Division 10.5 7.0 


9.0 


6.0 






Kansas Silent Reading Test 






19.2 


25.2 


Gregory Language Test 






30.7* 


36.3 


Ayres Spelling 






84 


93 


Ayres Writing 








54 



♦Gregory, loc. cit., p. 50 (Tentative norms based on tests of 1029 eighth grade Oregon 
school children from 50 schools ) . 



TABLE 25 

Showing the median scores in standard tests for the ninth grade in com- 
parison with the norms. 

Test Norm Test 

Ayres Spelling .... 100 

Ayres Writing .... 64 

Douglass Algebra 29.6* 30 

*DouGLASS, H. R. : A Series of Standardized Diagnostic Tests for the Fundamentals of 
First Year Algebra. An unpublished thesis submitted to the Graduate School of the Uni- 
versity of Missouri, 1920. 



TABLE 26 

Showing the medians and ranges of scores made in the Kansas Silent Read- 
ing Tests for groups of accelerated, at age, and retarded pupils. 

Grade VII Grade VUI 

Median Bange Median Eange 

Accelerated 20.5 17.8-27.7 29.4 15.4-40.4 

At age 21.1 10.5-38.9 32.0 14.9-54.8 

Retarded 20.3 17.0-32.9 19.1 5.6-39.8 

TABLE 27 

Showing the m.edians and ranges of scores in the Kansas Silent Reading 
Tests for groups of Superior, Average, and Inferior pupils. 

Grade VII Grade VIII 

Median Eange Median Eange 

Superior 32.0 18.0-39.0 35.0 17.0-45.0 

Normal 20.0 11.0-33.0 22.0 11.0-40.0 

Inferior 17.0 13.0-25.0 24.0 10.0-29.0 



[22] 



University of Oregon High School 



TABLE 28 

Showing the medians and ranges of scores (number worked correctly) for 
the Courtis Research Tests in Arithmetic by groups of accelerated, at age, and 
retarded pupils. The scores are the sums of the separate scores in the four 
fundamental operations : 



Accelerated 
At age 
Eetarded 



Grade VII 
Median Bange 

17.0 4.0-31.0 

21.0 10.0-34.0 

12.0 5.0-23.0 



Grade VIII 
Median Bange 

25.5 17.0-46.0 

29.0 11.0-57.0 

20.5 11.0-50.0 



TABLE 29 

Showing the medians and the ranges of scores (number problems worked 
correctly) for the Courtis Research Tests in Arithmetic by groups of Superior, 
Normal, and Inferior pupils. The scores are the sums of the separate scores in 
the four fundamental operations. 



Grade VII 

Median Bange 
Superior 20.0 4.0-34.0 

Normal 20.0 12.0-27.0 

Inferior 12.0 5.0-26.0 



Grade VIII 

Median Bange 

29.5 11.0-46.0 

23.0 10.0-57.0 

20.0 11.0-22.0 



TABLE 30 

Showing the medians and ranges of scores made in the Gregory Language 
Tests by groups of pupils classified as accelerated, at age, and retarded. 



Accelerated 
At age 
Retarded 



Grade VII 
Median Bange 

34.3 23.2-52.6 

20.0 5.1-61.8 

22.1 7.2-46.7 



Grade VIII 

Median Bange 

44.2 18.8-61.4 

32.0 14.9-54.9 

28.2 10.3-46.0 



TABLE 31 

Showing the medians and ranges of scores made in the Gregory Language 
Tests by groups of pupils classified as Superior, Normal, and Inferior. 

Grade VII Grade VIII 

Median Bange Median Bange 

Superior 34.3 19.4-61.8 43.4 14.9-61.4 

Normal 32.8 5.1-46.7 31.9 10.3-54.8 

Inferior 23.8 12.7-28.8 18.5 7.2-23.6 

TABLE 32 
Showing the results in the Stone Reasoning Tests in grades seven and eight. 







Total 


Score 














score 


per 




Number 


Number 








for 


WO 


Median 


problems 


problems 


Per cent 


Grade 


No. 


class 


pupils 


score 


attempted 


right 


accuracy 


VII-A 


36 


300.9 


836 


9.1 


364 


212 


58.2 


VIII-B 


21 


177.1 


843 


9.2 


194 


128 


66.0 


VIILA 


17 


183.4 


1,079 


10.8 


169 


126 


74.5 



[23] 



study of Pupil Development 

SECTION V. 

ANTHROPOMETRIC MEASUREMENTS 

Justification for the inclusion of the results of physical measure- 
ments may seem necessary in view of the fact that such data has 
not generally proved to be of the highest value. However, the 
close relationship between the physical and mental development of 
the human body cannot well be doubted regardless of whether such 
parallel maturation is correlated by direct causal factors or 
whether it represents merely concomitant relationship. For this 
reason, it can be shown that knowledge of certain physical factors 
does contribute data which will prove to be of considerable value 
indirectly in the understanding of individual cases among school 
children. Phj^sical immaturity, for example, is a frequent factor in 
low scholarship as can be shown from the experience of any observ- 
ing teacher. 

The measurements selected for use in this study include : 

1. Height standing. 

2. Weight. 

3. Lung Capacity ("Vital Capacity- "). 

4. Strength of Grip. 

The weights were all taken without clothing and were recorded 
in pounds and fractions. Height was likewise read to the nearest 
tenth of an inch. Both standing and sitting height were obtained 
although only the results in the first are used here. Lung capacity 
was measured by means of the wet spirometer and the strength of 
grip by means of the Smedley combined dynamometer and djTiamo- 
graph. In using both of the last two instruments three, or in a few 
cases more, trials were allowed and the one best record preserved. 
Likewise in the lung and strength measurements the work was 
done with small groups in mild competition in order to insure a 
high amount of interest and effort. The dynamometer was held in 
all of the tests at the side of the leg of the subject without touching 
the subject. Only the reading for the right hand will be considered 
here. 

The matter of the choice of the norms to be used as a basis for 
the comparisons presented considerable difficulty due to the fact 
that the exact conditions under which the various investigators have 
worked have not been standardized. In the matter of weight, for 
example, most of the studies have been made with clothing and 

[24] 



University of Oregon High School 

corrections for this factor are at best but approximate. It was 
finally decided here that for weight and height the results of 
Baldwin* were best suited to our purposes, first because of the fact 
that his weight norms are taken without clothing, and secondly, 
because his study was primarily made in university high schools or 
other demonstrational schools which are more likely to resemble the 
University of Oregon High School than are the results from studies 
of city school children generally. For vital capacity and strength 
of grip the norms of Smedleyt will be used. 

Tables 33 to 34 show the heights and weights of the University 
High School children in comparison with the Baldwin data. In 
general it will be seen that the Oregon pupils resemble those of the 
University of Chicago schools and the Francis W. Parker School 
very closely. Where our cases are sufficiently numerous to permit 
of comparisons the deviations in height or weight for either boys or 
girls are not significant in amount or in a constant direction. The 
western boys will average somewhat shorter than the eastern pupils 
and the Oregon girls slightly taller. For weight the Oregon boys 
show small but definite superiority, but in the case of the girls, this 
is not true to any extent. It should be pointed out that Baldwin's 
pupils are physically a superior lot in comparison with school chil- 
dren in general. He states : " the children have been under 

school medical inspection, directed play, and physical education. 
That these factors are important educational agencies is shown by 
the fact that, on the average, these children from the Horace Mann 
School, the University of Chicago Elementary and High School, and 
the Francis W. Parker School are taller and heavier than any other 
group of children so far recorded among over a million studied. ' '$ 

The differences between the results obtained for vital capacity 

of the Oregon pupils and the norms of Smedley afford the most 

striking single fact in the data on physical measurements. Both 

boys and girls (Table 37) show markedly greater development of 

lung capacity at all ages. If the vital index as often computed by 

the formula 

lung capacity 
V. I.= 

weight 

is obtained for each pupil, it will be found that the medians for 



♦Baldwin, B. T. : Physical Growth and School Progress. Bulletin of the U. S. Bureau 
of Education, 1914, No. 10, 1-215. 

tSMEDLEY, F. : Report of Department of Child Study and Pedagogic Investigations, 
46th Annual Report of the Board of Education, Chicago, 1899-1900. 

Jloc. cit., p. 9. 



25] 



Study of Pupil Development 

such indices at all ages are higher than norms obtained by dividing 
the birthday norms of weight and lung capacity furnished by 
Smedley (see Table 38). It should be remembered that Smedley's 
data for weight includes clothing and hence these computed indices 
will run slightly too low. This, of course, will far from explain the 
marked differences evidenced by the Oregon children. 

In treating data for such small numbers of cases as are con- 
cerned in this study, it is very difficult to make reliable comparisons 
with the published norms because of the influence of extreme vari- 
ates upon the measures of central tendency. For example, if our 
125 pupils are classified according to ages, there will be in no case 
more than 17 pupils at any age and but one at certain ages. 
Moreover in certain cases, e. g., for the vital index, which is a fluc- 
tuating value for the different ages because of the imperfect paral- 
lelism in the increases of lung capacity and weight with age, it is 
difficult to compare such indices with any of the measures of intelli- 
gence like the mental age and the intelligence quotients. Mental 
age is a score in contrast with the I. Q. which is an index, but on the 
other hand, the I. Q. is believed to approximate a constant value for 
an individual year after j-ear. To correlate a somewhat constant 
index like the I. Q. with a fluctuating index like the vital index is 
unreliable if the pupils are of different ages. In order to make 
possible these comparisons of groups of pupils of differing ages, it is 
suggested that the vital index be compared with a theoretical vital 
index to be obtained by dividing the lung capacity norm by the 
weight norm at each age. The result will be a value ranging above 
or below 1.00 in much the same way as does the I. Q. Such an 
index might be termed an ''index of normality" and could be ap- 
plied in all cases where values which are statistically indices, in con- 
trast with scores, are concerned. Likewise the index obtained for 
strength of grip by a similar process : 

Grip (actual) 

' ' Index of normality ' ' f oi' strength of grip = 

Grip (norm.) 

Tables 37 to 38 show the results of such correlation of these indices 
with the intelligence quotients. It is to be noted that the relation- 
ship between the vital index and intelligence which Smedley, De- 
Busk*, and others have postulated finds some confirmation in the 
correlations stated in Table 41. The chief limitations apparent in 

*DeBusk, B. W. : The Vital Index in Development, Ped. Sem., 24, 1917, pp. 1-18. 

[26 1 



University of Oregon High ScJiool 

the use of this method would seem to center about the fact that 
there must be available reliable norms for any trait under consid- 
eration. In such measurements as physical development, there ap- 
pear to be regional differences which act as disturbing factors in the 
computations. However, the advantage of increased numbers with 
a corresponding increase in reliability of the statistical measures 
found should be considered as an argument in favor of this manner 
of treatment. At any rate it might prove valuable to try out this 
plan of correlation with other and larger groups of pupils and for 
other physical and mental traits where norms are to be had. The 
sexes need not be separated. 

Table 40 shows that strength of grip for the right hand shows a 
correlation of 0.35 for boys and —.08 for girls by the Pearson for- 
mula. In the same way the coefficients for the correlation of the 
1. Q. and the "index of normality" for the vital index are 0.244 
for girls and 0.240 for boys. The coefficients support the conten- 
tion of DeBusk and others that there exists a positive relationship 
between the vital index and mental ability. This relationship is not 
very perfect and is very probably of indirect nature. It does suggest 
the interesting possibility of physiological effects upon the mental 
processes by the efficiency of oxygenation through the medium of 
the blood stream. The ratio of oxygen intake to the weight of the 
tissues of the body could conceivably be a factor of influence upon 
the metabolism of the organism. The most important difficulty in 
establishing such a relation seems to lie in the fact that the spirome- 
ter readings are not exact measures of lung efficiency since different 
types of breathers and different amounts of effort in using the 
instrument cause different relations between the tidal, comple- 
mental, and supplemental air volumes to arise. There seems to be 
no method of regulating and standardizing these relations. In the- 
ory, these three volumes are summated to form the vital capacity. 

Tables 35, 36, and 39 show the comparative development of the 
pupils of the University High School and about 850-900 pupils of 
the city schools of Eugene in height, weight, and vital indices. The 
figures for the Eugene schools were kindly furnished by Superin- 
tendent W. R. Rutherford and are published with his permission. 
The advantages, in the main, are to be credited to the University 
school, but it should be remembered that the data for the city 
schools does not extend above the eighth grade. This would tend to 
cause the comparisons for the upper years to be made between 
pupils normal to the high school grades in the one case and in the 

[27] 



Study of Pupil Development 

other for over-age pupils of high school age who are still in the 
elementary schools. 

These comparisons are interesting again in that the larger num- 
bers of the city schools dispose of the possibility that the better 
physical development of the University High School pupils in com- 
parison with Baldwin's and Smedley's norms in a chance effect of 
the small number of cases. 

One possibilitj^ which should be called to attention in correla- 
tions between mental and physical traits is that such might be due 
merely to the varying degrees of effort expended by different types 
of individuals ; the more intelligent, perhaps, making greater efforts 
in the course of taking such measurements as grip and lung capa- 
city and hence introducing a type of spurious correlation. 

TABLE 33 
Comparing the median heights of the pupils of the University High School 
with the medians for the pupils of the University of Chicago High School and 
the Francis W. Parker School (Baldwin). 

Heiglit in inches (medians) 



Boys — 










Age 


Oregon 


Chicago 


Diference 


N 


iiy. 


52.7 


55.9 


—3.2 


2 


12y2 


57.9 


57.9 


0.0 


14 


13 Vo 


59.0 


59.8 


—0.8 


17 


14Vo 


61.6 


62.6 


—1.0 


12 


151/. 


63.3 


64.7 


—1.4 


6 


161/2 


69.5 


65.5 


-f4.0 


1 


171.^. 


64.5 


66.5 


—2.0 


3 


Girl's— 










iiy. 


58.5 


56.6 


-fl.9 


3 


121/, 


60.0 


58.1 


+ 1.9 


14 


131/, 


61.1 


60.9 


+0.2 


17 


141/, 


62.2 


62.0 


+0.2 


12 


15 yo 


61.9 


62.6 


—0.7 


8 


161/. 


61.8 


63.0 


— 1.2 


4 


17V2 


62.3 


63.4 
TABLE 34 


— 1.1 


1 



Comparing the median weights of the pupils of the University of Oregon 
High School with the medians for the University of Chicago High School and 
the Francis W. Parker School (Baldwin). 

Weight in pounds (medians) 
Age Oregon Chicago Diference N 



Boys — 










111/, 


68.5 


72.7 


—4.2 


2 


121/' 


87.5 


77.8 


+9.7 


14 


131/, 


89.0 


87.0 


+2.0 


17 


141/, 


100.0 


102.5 


—2.5 


12 


i5y; 


109.5 


108.5 


+ 1.0 


6 



16V, 144.0 114.5 +29.5 

17y2 129.5 128.5 +1.0 

[28] 



University of Oregon High School 



Girls— 










111/2 


95.7 


72.5 


+ 28.2 


3 


121/, 


80.5 


83.0 


—2.5 


9 


131/2 


99.5 


95.0 


+4.5 


17 


141/2 


103.0 


103.5 


—0.5 


12 


15 Va 


109.4 


111.2 


—1.8 


8 


leVa 


123.0 


112.5 


+ 10.5 


5 


171/2 


120.0 


116.5 


+3.5 


1 



TABLE 35 

Comparing the heights of the pupils of the University High School with 
those of the public schools of Eugene according to the measurements furnished 
by Superintendent W. E. Eutherford of the city schools. Measurements for the 
city schools are averages, for U. H. S., medians. 

Boys Girls 



Age 


U. H. S. 


City Schools 


U. H. S. 


City Schools 


11% 


52.7 


54.44 


58.5 


56.07 


121/2 


57.9 


56.16 


60.0 


56.99 


131/2 


59.0 


59.31 


61.1 


60.35 


141/0 


61.6 


61.13 


62.2 


62.23 


151/2 


63.3 


63.73 


61.9 


62.84 


16 V> 


69.5 


67.40 


61.8 


62.63 


i7y2 


64.5 




62.3 





TABLE 36 

Comparing the weights of the two groups of pupils in the same way as in 
the preceding table of heights. 





Boys 




Girls 




Age 


U. E. S. City Schools 


U. H. S. 


City Schools 


111/0 


68.5 


73.98 


95.7 


74.31 


121/, 


87.5 


79.94 


80.5 


81.32 


131/, 


89.0 


87.16 


99.5 


97.43 


141/, 


100.0 


97.29 


103.0 


104.00 


151/0 


109.5 


114.08 


109.4 


109.77 


I6I/2 


144.0 


128.07 


123.0 


115.61 


i7y2 


129.5 




120.0 





TABLE 37 
Comparing the medians for Adtal capacity for the University of Oregon 
High School with those of Smedley. 

Vital Capacity Smedley 's 



Age in ( 


juMc inche 


's Data 


Difference 


^ 


Boys— 










iiyo 


120.5 


110.2 


+ 10.3 


2 


12^ 


151.0 


119.6 


+31.4 


13 


131/0 


164.0 


137.7 


+26.3 


16 


i4y. 


170.5 


154.5 


+ 16.0 


12 


15% 


241.0 


174.5 


+ 76.5 


5 


161A 


237.0 


206.2 


+30.8 


2 


1714 


209.0 


218.8 


— 9.8 


1 


Girl's— 










11 y2 


138.0 


97.1 


+40.9 


3 


12y2 


150.0 


105.9 


+44.1 


9 


i3y2 


164.0 


116.9 


+47.1 


17 


14% 


152.0 


128.8 


+ 23.2 


12 


15% 


160.0 


13.5.7 


+ 24.3 


8 


16% 


197.0 


140.6 


+56.4 


5 


17% 


196.0 


142.9 


+53.1 


1 



[29 



study of Pupil Development 



TABLE 38 
Comparing the vital indices of the University High School pupils with those 
computed from the birthday norms of Smedley. Parentheses show numbers 
measured. 





Boys 




Girls 




Age 


Oregon 


Smedley 


Oregon 


Smedley 


111/2 


1.75 ( 2) 


1.53 


1.44 ( 3) 




1.36 


121/2 


1.90 (13) 


1.52 


1.87 ( 9) 




1.32 


131/2 


1.90 (16) 


1.54 


1.65 (17) 




1.28 


141/2 


1.73 (12) 


1.56 


1.48 (12) 




1.24 


151/0 


2.01 ( 5) 


1.55 


1.46 ( 8) 




1.25 


161/2 


1.76 ( 2) 


1.69 


1.60 ( 4) 




1.23 


171/2 


1.54 ( 1) 


1.67 


1.63 ( 1) 




1.22 



TABLE 39 

Comparing the vital indices for the pupils of the University High School 
with data obtained for the city schools of Eugene by Superintendent W. R. 
Rutherford. Data for Eugene schools computed as averages, for the U. H. S., 
medians. For numbers of cases see preceding table. Numbers for city schools 
about 800. 



Age 


V. H. S. 


City Schools 


U. H. S. 


City Schools 


111/2 


1.75 


1.554 


1.44 


1.386 


121/, 


1.90 


1.553 


1.87 


1.382 


13% 


1.90 


1.542 


1.65 


1.339 


141/2 


1.73 


1.590 


1.48 


1.377 


]5i/o 


2.01 


1.517 


1.46 


1.366 


161/2 


1.76 


1.676 


1.60 


1.367 



TABLE 40 
Showing the Pearson coefficient of correlation between the I. Q. 's and the 

"indices of normality" for strength of grip in the right hand (upon the 
basis of Smedley 's data). 

r P. E. N 

Boys +0.350 .078 57 

Girls —0.080 .087 60 

TABLE 41 
Showing the Pearson coefficient of correlation between the I. Q. 's and the 

indices of "normality" for the vital indices computed from the data of 
Smedley. 

r P.E. N 

Boys +0.240 .089 51 

Girls +0.244 .089 51 

TABLE 42 
Showing the medians for strength of grip in the right hand for boys and 
girls compared with the norms of Smedley. Measurements in kilograms. 





Boys 




Girls 


Age 


Oregon Smedley 


Oregon 


Smedley 


111/2 


24.25 20.03 


19.00 


17.65 


121/2 


27.50 22.45 


23.00 


20.19 


131/2 


30.00 26.43 


25.00 


23.49 


141/0 


33.00 30.40 


25.50 


26.10 


151/2 


38.00 36.38 


26.00 


27.91 


I61/2 


44.50 42.35 


28.25 


29.50 


171/2 


47.50 47.14 


36.00 


29.63 



[30] 



University of Oregon High School 



SECTION VI. 

CORRELATIONS, DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 

In this concluding section the effort will be made to correlate 
the data presented before and make certain applications of our 
findings to school problems and at the same time suggest other 
problems which may be attacked by these methods. It is not be- 
lieved that the problems to be discussed here can be answered in any 
degree of finality, but it is thought that solutions may be suggested. 

At the outset it may be of value to raise the entire question of 
intelligence testing and other forms of educational measurements 
as well. In spite of the wide-spread use of such objective methods 
as those of the tests of native ability, it may fairly be said that 
among the rank and file of public school men and women there are 
still those who raise certain questions. They often hold to the view 
that careful and experienced teachers are just as accurate in their 
estimates of intelligence as tests can be made to be, or again, they 
ask: Even after one has found the mental age, the I. Q., or the 
score in Army Alpha, of what value is this knowledge? Are not 
such measures prohibitive in their demands upon time and energy? 

The last will be taken up first since it can be answered quite 
briefly. To take a concrete illustration, a pupil spends in a given 
grade in the course of a full year 's work of nine months something 
more than a thousand hours under the direct observation of the 
teacher, granting a six-hour day. It requires approximately one 
hour of these one thousand to give an individual Binet examination 
— or one-tenth of one per cent of the school year. If there are 
thirty pupils in a room and a group scale requiring an hour's time 
to give is used, the time expenditure is about two minutes per pupil 
plus about five minutes per pupil to score the results. If the results 
of such tests of intelligence have even the smallest practical value, 
the time expenditure is almost negligible. Every year we devote 
dozens of times this amount of time to one or another worthy cause 
which may be very much less closely related to school affairs. Pass- 
ing from this question to that of the possibility of intelligence tests 
being entirely superfluous since capable teachers of long experience 
can estimate ability with a reliability which approaches that of the 
tests, it should be recalled that it is true that the teachers of the 
University High School were able to estimate intelligence with a 
reliability of from .60 to .70 or more as shown by the coefficients of 

[31] 



iitudy of Pupil Development 

correlation. In view of the extremely favorable circumstances 
under which these ratings were made, it is doubtful whether much 
greater accuracy can be ordinarily obtained. If, then, we examine 
a few of the cases of displacement we will find ourselves forced to 
the conclusion that, although the reliability of the method of esti- 
mation is high in the mass, in individual cases it will lead to serious 
error. Stated in other words the method breaks down in just those 
individual cases where it could prove of the greatest value. To cite 
some illustrative cases, the following will serve the purpose : 

Case 1.— V. L., girl. C. A., 11-8. M. A., 15-5. I. Q., 132. Army Alpha, 83. 
Chicago, 49%. Average grade, 79. Teachers' estimate, 4.25 (pooled estimates 
of four teachers; range of estimates 2.0-6.0. See preceding section for basis of 
assigning ranks). 

This is a case of a quiet, retiring pupil, physically immature, somewhat 
irregular in attendance, and handicapped by ill health to some extent. Previous 
school advantages probably not of the best. The teachers have evidently judged 
her ability by her grades overlooking the above factors and the additional one 
that she is almost two years ahead of her grade and is thus subjected to ex- 
treme competition. Her real ability demands that she be rated 1.0 or a fraction 
more in the scale used for estimation. 

Case 2.— E. F., boy. C. A., 12-7. M. A., 16-7. I. Q., 132. Alpha, 133. 
Chicago, 47%. Average grade 73 (failure). Teachers' estimate 3.0 (pooled 
results for four teachers; range 1.0 to 6.0). 

Pupil vivacious, troublesome in minor ways, noisy, lazy, inattentive, self- 
satisfied, and more or less indifferent to praise or criticism. Could do the high- 
est type of school work if he so desired. Father an able professional man. 
Another case of teachers basing judgments upon school work. Pupil acceler- 
ated two years but bids fair to lose this position unless some method of inter- 
esting him in school work is found. Should be rated 1.0. 

Case 3.— C. W., girl. C. A., 13-10. M. A., 12-9. I. Q., 92. Alpha, 69. 
Chicago, 27%. Teachers' estimate 3.25 (pooled results for four teachers; range 
2.0-6.0). Average grade 87. 

Pupil active, vivacious, energetic, works carefully and consistently, takes 
prominent part in school activities, a natural leader among her class-mates, and 
would be popularly described as ' ' looking intelligent. ' ' Her pleasant manners 
and excellent work habits cause her to be rated 3.25 when her real ability is 5.0 
or 6.0 on our scale. She is just at grade for her age. 

Case 4.— M. G., boy. C. A., 15-9. M. A., 18-1. I. Q., 115. Alpha, 130. 
Chicago, 64. Average grade 73 (failure). Teachers' estimate 6.0 (pooled 
results of five teachers; range 4-9). 

One of the notoriously lazy boys of the school. Constant minor offender 
against school rules. Not responsive to social j^ressure. Prefers to read wild 
west stories to school books. Could easily do 90 per cent school work. Eated 
too low because of work habits. Should be rated 2.0-3.0. Is retarded about one 
yigar. Has failed before. 

If space permitted many other cases could be cited, e. g., the 
girl standing fourth in the entire school upon the basis of the I. Q. 
and beyond doubt to be rated at 1.0 on our scale was assigned the 
rank 6.0 by her teachers, the estimates ranging from 4.0-8.0. It will 

[32] 



University of Oregon High School 

be argued that these are the exceptions and not the rule. This is 
just the point in the position taken here. It is in the exceptional 
case that the intelligence examination proves its worth. We have 
shown by table 10 of Section II that 18.9 per cent of the pupils are 
displaced more than two groups — an amount which as was shown is 
a serious displacement — and that but one pupil in six can be located 
in the correct group as determined by the tests. Sixty-one and one- 
tenth per cent are located with a displacement of no more than one 
group — an amount which is not serious. This leaves one pupil in 
five who cannot be rated by the method of estimation because of 
complicating factors and it is just this pupil that most needs to be 
given an evaluation in terms of native ability. For these reasons it 
does not seem likely that the method of estimates promises any 
serious rivalry to the method of tests. Two other points suggest 
themselves as being worthy of brief mention. The first is that the 
method of estimates is almost as expensive in time and efforts as are 
individual tests and much more so than group examinations, as was 
shown by the fact that in order to obtain the high reliability of our 
estimates, some teachers devoted as much as five hours to the task. 
The second point is that both methods are of practical as well as 
instructive value since they are mutually corroborative. The fact 
that comparisons of the ratings obtained by the two methods show 
discrepancies leads to deeper analysis of pupil's abilities by teachers 
and a truer understanding of the complex relationships between the 
many factors combining to determine school attainment. 

The remaining point as to what are the schoolroom applications 
of the mental age, I. Q., or other intelligence ratings will not be 
further discussed here but taken up incidentally along with the 
other problems in the pages to follow. 

The next application of the method of objective measurements 
in school practice is that of the possibility of using standard educa- 
tional tests and intelligence scores as a basis for promotions, grad- 
ing, and school advancement. This is a new field where generaliza- 
tions are dangerous but offering such possibilities that a few ideas 
merit some consideration. In Section IV it was shown that the 
pupil who is considered as accelerated by the usual standards would 
in most cases be classified as retarded in an age-grade table based 
upon the use of mental ages. This fact has been repeatedly empha- 
sized by Terman and others and apparently passes unchallenged. 
Could, then, a pupil do the work in the grade which is normal for 
his mental age in a satisfactory manner and prove able to stand the 

[33 1 



C)tudy of Pupil Development 

competition of pupils actuallj^ one or more years older? Obviously 
to transplant the twelve-year-old boy or girl testing at a mental age 
of fifteen (I. Q. approximately 125) into the first year of the high 
school without completing the work of grades seven and eight 
would be an entirely unwarranted educational policy which might 
entail no end of objectionable consequences. This hiatus in the 
fundamentals of subject matter would persist throughout the school 
and real life of the pupil and worse still the foundations for future 
building would be undermined. Such practices are not to be seri- 
ously considered. But, on the other hand, there may be an alterna- 
tive. As every teacher knows we have with us in the classroom a 
considerable group of pupils of superior ability who appear to be 
bored with the work of the school and grade and who in the end fall 
either into attitudes of apathy or petty mischief. It has been a 
rather frequent criticism of the schools of democracies that they 
look first to the average or sub-average child often to the neglect of 
real ability. This may explain in large part the fact that so many 
men of genius have been overlooked by their teachers only to burst 
forth like meteors in their later lives. There is little doubt that the 
lock-step method of school progress has tended to divert superior 
ability and energy, particularly in boys, into wasteful and negative 
channels. These criticisms are not intended to serve as arguments 
for falling into the errors of some of the European school systems 
of focusing the entire effort and attention of the schools upon the 
few of superior endowments at the expense of the many. One 
extreme is as bad as the other, except that the latter does seem to 
produce a certain body of social, political, and scientific leaders. 
The real issue is that any system which discriminates between the 
various levels of ability is wasteful and unfair. Just what the 
mechanics of a system permitting pupils to progress at rates deter- 
mined hy their individual abilities will prove to be is not within the 
scope of this discussion to suggest. Several efforts have been made 
in the past in the form of the Pueblo plan, modified monitorial sys- 
tems, the abolition of class instruction with a return to individual 
teaching, the Batavia scheme, and many others. Each of these has 
advantages and none are free from objections. Divergent as they 
are, the.y are in agreement on the one point that the present lock- 
step system is undesirable in view of the new knowledge of the 
magnitude of individual differences. 

Under present conditions we find in extreme cases where the 
pupils are too mature to derive full value from a grade that we are 

[34] 



University of Oregon High School 

forced to promote these ahead a half grade or a grade without the 
intervening work. That such promotions are make-shifts would not 
be denied. However, if under the present conditions forced pro- 
motions are necessary at times in individual cases or for administra- 
tive reasons, we should supplement our judgments in these promo- 
tions with whatever other types of data are at hand. That the 
results of intelligence and standard educational tests can be made to 
serve this purpose is well illustrated by the following case reported 
by the writer in Educational Administration and Supervision for 
February, 1920.* Here because of crowded conditions and unequal 
distributions of pupils it was found necessary to promote about ten 
pupils from the seventh B to seventh A section. It was the plan to 
select about that number from the lower grade upon the basis of 
ability, choosing the highest in the class. Teacher's estimates and 
judgments were unavailable since the pupils were all new to the 
school and had come from at least a half-dozen different schools, in 
some cases outside the state. It was finally decided to base the 
promotions upon the showing made in a "battery" of educational 
tests consisting of the Courtis, Kelly and Gregory tests. If time 
had permitted the Binet tests would have been given. Unfortu- 
nately these had to be deferred until later ; the results are, however, 
included in the table below, which is reproduced from the original 
paper. The pupils standing highest in the three tests were ad- 
vanced into the next section except for two rejections, one for 
physical immaturity and the other on account of parental objection. 

TABLE 43 
Records of seven pupils who were advanced from 7B to 7A. 

Individual Tests Average Group Tests 

Pupil C. A. M. A. I. Q. Grades Chicago Alpha 

"A. H. 13-3 15-9 119 85 54 98 

J. K. 12-9 14-9 114 80 36 114 

H. C. 14-2 13-0 93 76 15 65 

J. B. 12-4 14-0 114 82 451/.'. io9 

K. E. 12-9 14-11 117 82 34 102 

B. B. 11-8 18-3 113 85 38 97 

E. T. 12-2 15-9 130 83 45 94 

Averages 12-8.7 15-5.6 114.3 81.9 38.2 97.0 

Medians 12-9.0 14-7.0 114.0 82.0 38.0 98.0 

Records of pupils regularly belonging in grade 7A — 

C. A. M. A. I. Q. Grades Chicago Alpha 

Averages 13-5.6 14-6.0 108.0 81.4 35.1 87.5 

Medians 13-3.0 14-6.5 107.0 81.5 36.5 79.0 



*RUCH, G. M. : An Experiment with Forced Promotions, Educational Administration 
and Supervision, 6, 1920, pp. 71-73. 



[35 



Study of Pupil Development 

"Examination of the figures given above leads to the eonclu- 
tion that the promotions could be defended except in the case of 
H. C. who did passing work, average grade of 76 (passing 75) 
although at a high expenditure of effort. In no other case did a 
pupil fall below the median grade of the school (median for school 
82 ; boys, 80, girls 83) . The one pupil doing poor work would have 
been eliminated on the basis of the supplementary evidence fur- 
nished by the intelligence tests had these been possible at the same 
time that the pedagogical tests were made. ' ' 

This illustration, even in spite of the small number of cases 
involved, tempts one to conclude that the careful use of the 
results of a combination of mental, educational, and physical tests 
would offer a basis for forced or special promotions, where neces- 
sary, which is about as reliable as educational practice can be made 
empirically. In the foregoing example, much valuable supplemen- 
tary data is again overlooked in the direction of physical factors. 
To take a single case, that of the pupil not advanced because of 
physical factors, we have the following : 

Score 



Pupil— H. M., Boy— 


Attempts 


Eii 


C. A. 


11-11 


Courtis 






M. A. 


14-0 


Addition 


8 


8 


I. Q. 


117 


Subtraction 


12 


12 


Alpha 
Chicago 
Average Grade 


83 
38 
83 


Multiplication 
Division 


5 
6 


5 
6 


Weight 


72 


Kelly 






Height 

Vital Capacity 

Vital Index 


52.5 
130 
1.80 


Gregory 






Grip — Eight 
Grip— Left 


27 
29 









17.8 
52.6 



Examination of this data shows that the pupil rates quite satis- 
factorily in all of the tests of general intelligence, fairly high or 
very high in the standard educational tests, but that there is some 
evidence of physical immaturity, particularly in height. This is 
not serious in relation to the norms for eastern children, but is 
somewhat subnormal for the pupils of this school. Taking into 
account the fact of the low age of the pupil as well, it was decided 
not to permit him to make the advance in grade. Another case 
which shows the influence of physical factors is that of a boy who is 
one year accelerated but who has failed to maintain the high stand- 
ards of work evidenced by accelerated pupils. His measurements 
follow : 



36] 



University of Oregon High School 



S. F.- 



-Boy. 










C. A. 


12-10 


Courtis Attempts 


Bights 


Score 


M. A. 


11-8 


Addition 6 


2 




I. Q. 


91 


Subtraction 6 


6 




Alpha 


54 


Multiplication 8 


5 




Chicago 


361/2 


Division 7 


6 




Average Grade 


75 








Weight 


63 


Kelly 




22.3 


Height 


56 








Vital Capacity 




Gregory 




18.8 


Vital Index 




Ay res Spelling 




80.0 


Grip — Eight 


22.5 


Ayres Writing 




40.0 


Grip — Left 


22.0 


Stone Reasoning 9 


6 


10.5 



This boy is somewhat sub-normal in intelligence although not 
seriously enough to explain his poor school work. His previous 
school advantages have not been of the best but this also is not a 
serious defect. The real reason for his poor school work is to be 
found prominently involving the fact that his mentality will not 
warrant his continuance in a grade one year above the normal for 
his age and further that his physical development is retarded. The 
boy is almost the tj^pical picture of the cases of mal-nutrition as 
described in works on school hygiene. It is not accurate to speak of 
him as handicapped by ill health as he is rarely sick and is regular 
in attendance at school, but, casual inspection reveals that meta- 
bolism is carried on at a very low ebb as is evidenced by his 
apathetic manner. In all probability he will soon lose his advantage 
in school position and through failure drop back into his proper 
grade. It seems to be one of those cases where a teacher can con- 
scientiously advise the parents to allow the boy to be retained for 
one and a half or two years in grade eight before allowing him to 
enter high school. It is even possible that parents would be glad to 
pursue this plan if presented as outlined here with the facts before 
them and in a sympathetic manner, with some reservations, of 
course, in the m^atter of revealing intelligence scores. 

These case descriptions suggest at once the problems of age- 
grade distribution as a measure of school progress as dependent 
upon factors of native endowment. Acceleration in most schools in 
the past has not attracted a great deal of attention, due to the fact 
that our methods of promotion did not favor the production of accel- 
eration to any such degree as they did produce conditions of retard- 
ation. It has been shown, as might have been expected, that acceler- 
ation is closely related to superior ability. Our figures presented 
before point unmistakably to this conclusion. That the reverse 
would hold true of retardation has not been nearly so well accepted 

[37] 



study of Pupil Development 

because of the multiplicity of factors involved in causing pupils to 
fall behind grade. However, there is a growing suspicion that 
many of the conventional causes to which retardation has been 
attributed are after all the superficial causes which often conceal 
the real reasons. For this reason it was thought worth while to 
attempt to analyze our cases of retardation in the light of the 
experimental facts gathered. One of the striking facts is that of 
the relative ranks of the accelerated, at age, and retarded groups in 
the various types of tests. In general the most perfect gradations 
are found to be characteristic of the tests of general intelligence 
(see table 18), school marks (see table 20), and percentages of 
failures (tables 21 and 22) and is least characteristic of the stand- 
ard educational tests and the phj^sical measurements (tables 26, 28, 
and 30). In order to make certain of these comparisons directly 
portions of the foregoing tables are reproduced here. 



TABLE 44 

Showing in summarized form the results of the tests of intelligence and 
school marks for the groups of accelerated, at age, and retarded pupils of the 
entire school. All medians. 





N. 


C.A. 


M.A. 


I.Q. 


Per cent 
Alpha Chicago Grades failing 


Accelerated 40 
Normal 44 
Retarded 35 


13-2 
13-7 
15-9 


15-2 
15-0 
14-1 


117 

105 

90 


104 
85 
79 


43 83 7.3 
35.5 82.5 9.1 
31 78 31.4 








TABLE 45 






Test 


Grade FII 
Accelerated At age 


Betarded 


Grade VIII 
Accelerated At age Betarded 


Kelly 

Courtis (totals) 
Gregory 
Ayres Writing 
Ayres Spelling 


20,5 
17.0 
34.3 
40.0 
60.0 


21.1 
21.0 
20.0 
40.3 
81.7 


20.3 
12.0 
22.1 
55.0 
75.0 


29.4 
25,5 
44.2 
45,0 
96.0 


32.0 19.1 
29.0 20.5 
32.0 28.2 
65.0 55.0 
92.5 86.7 



In examining the foregoing summaries one cannot fail but bo 
impressed with the weight of native ability in the determination of 
school standing. One thing is certain, viz., that mental deficiency 
is a far more powerful factor in the cause of retardation than has 
been commonly supposed notwithstanding several authorities to tV.e 
contrary who asserted that this is a minor if not negligible influence. 
Concretely to the point is the matter of late entrance. Why should 
delayed entrance to the public schools result in a lessened acquisi- 
tion of classroom knowledge, all other things being equal, in com- 

[38] 



University of Oregon High School 

parison with the pupil who begins his school life on schedule time 1 
He must have traveled the same road through the school, studied 
under the same instructors, followed the same course of study, etc. 
It must be true that such groups of late entrants within the ranks of 
the retarded cannot account for the generally poor showing of 
the latter. In the case of ill health, moving away, and similar 
causes, our contentions are not meant to apply. These are 
admittedly real causes for pupils falling behind grade. However, 
as we shall show below, there is a strong tendency in the case 
of loss of time through changing schools, for the factor of 
intelligence to enter once more. The floating population repre- 
sents a class very largely recruited from the ranks of those 
who are to be described as economic failures to a greater or 
less degree. Here, even though such frequent changes are real 
handicaps to successful school work, the underlying cause reduces 
often to the inability of such homes to maintain a satisfactory stand- 
ing in the economic competition of the industrial world. The eco- 
nomic instability is but the superficial cause. In order to check 
upon the weight to be assigned to the factor of native ability in 
individual cases of retardation as well as in the mass as shown by 
the tables of medians above, the full school history of all the cases 
of retardation remaining in the school was obtained. Of the thirty- 
five cases of retardation in the school during the first semester of 
the school year 1919-1920, thirty-one of these pupils continued 
throughout the year. In order to examine the attributed causes for 
these pupils having fallen behind grade, the detailed school history 
of each case was secured by the combined use of information blanks, 
personal interviews, and conferences with parents. The school 
progress of each pupil was then charted out from the time the pupil 
entered the first grade to the present time. That a few errors inev- 
itably have crept in matters very little since only the attributed 
causes are to be considered and these are purposely to be taken at 
face value. It is not believed that the attributed causes are gener- 
erally the true causes, on the other hand, it was quite often evident 
that the contrary was true. The real intention is to subject the tradi- 
tional attributed causes to a further analysis in the effort to show- 
that such causes are but superficially operative and that in many 
cases deeper-seated forces have operated to cause the pupil to make 
slow progress through the schools. Table 46 shows in a summarized 
form the inter-relations between the attributed causes and such 
factors as the intelligence quotients and the number of schools at- 

[39] 



study of Pupil Development 

tended. Notwithstanding many exceptions, the number of schools 
attended should in the mass prove to be a rough measure of the 
economic instability and restlessness of the home from which the 
pupils have come. That some relation between the factor of intelli- 
gence and the floating home exists has been pointed out by numer- 
ous investigators. 

TABLE 46 

Giving the median I. Q. 's, absolute numbers, percentages, and numbers of 
schools attended for the groups as classified upon the basis of attributed causes 
for the 35 retarded pupils. 













Aver. No, 








Per 


Median 


of schools 


Attributed Cause 


N. 


cent 


I.Q. 


attended. 


I. 


Single Causes: 

Absence due to changing schools or 












being put back 


6 


19.3 


89.0 


6.17 




Absence due to ill health or accidents 


3 


9.7 


90.0 


3.67 




Service in army 


1 


3.2 


101.0 


3.00 




Late entrance 


4 


12.9 


100.5 


3.25 




Inability to learn 


5 


16.1 


86.0 


4.40 




Lack of application 


7 


22.6 


90.0 


4.00 


II. 


Multiple Causes: 

Absence due to changing schools and 












ill health combined 


1 


3.2 


90.0 


6.00 




HI health and lack of application 












combined 


2 


6.5 


99.5 


5.00 




Late entrance and poor health combined 


2 


6.5 


74.5 


4.50 


III. 


Left School Before Data Was Secured : 












Transferred to another school 


1 




62.0 






To go to work 


2 




80.0 






Moved away 


1 









35 

Examination of the foregoing table shows the suggestive fact 
that no matter what the attributed cause of retardation may be, 
that the median intelligence of no group rises above mediocrity and 
in the vast majority of the classes it falls decidedly below the nor- 
mal. The highest levels of intelligence accompany such factors as 
late entrance, army service delays, and ill health coupled with other 
causes. It is quite evident that none of these groups would logically 
be expected, per se, to be characterized by low grade ability in the 
same sense that lack of application or inability to learn would be. 
This data, although slight in amount, would tempt one to adopt a 
conclusion that is diametrically opposed to the statement made ny 
some students of retardation that defective mentality is a slight 
factor in slow progress through the schools. Rather would poor 
native endowment appear to underlie most of the traditional causes 

[40] 



University of Oregon High School 

for these conditions. Terman* quotes Dr. Gulick as taking the posi- 
tion "that relatively few children are so defective as to prevent 
success in school or life," but accepts the results of Dickson whose 
^dings are quite in accord with the facts presented above. One 
thing seems to be certain, at any rate, and that is that the whole 
subject of the causes of retardation must shortly be re-opened in the 
light of the new knowledge in the field of individual differences and 
tests of endowment. 

This relation between school progress as rated in terms of accel- 
eration and retardation and the factor of native ability or general 
intelligence suggests the problem of comparing the scores made iji 
the standard educational tests with ability by the method of correla- 
tion. The exact degree of relation between school acquisition and 
real ability has been a much disputed question in the past, and only 
-recently has much experimental evidence been available for pur- 
poses of discussion of such points. In table 47 presented below are 
given the Pearson coefficients between the I. Q. and the scores in 
the pedagogical tests, grade by grade. A few statements concern- 
ing the method of handling the data for these correlations are 
needed. The method of averaging the coefficients for the three 
grades (in part of the cases, two grades) was that of a "weighted" 
average in which the exact size of N was allowed to influence the 
average. This is obviously a truer measure than a direct average of 
the two or three coefficients. It may be objected that even such 
averages are not very reliable. This is admitted but, on the other 
hand, it is thought that such weighted averages are in most cases 
lower than the true correlations. For example, the correlation for 
all pupils of all three grades between the I. Q. and the average 
grades earned is 0.533 plus or minus .044 but the weighted average 
correlation is 0.480. The use of the weighted averages of the coeffi- 
cients makes it possible to avoid certain errors which would arise in 
comparing scores in a given test for several different grades, viz., the 
I. Q. varies about 100 in each grade while the test scores vary about 
different bases in each grade, usually a series of increasing values 
as we pass from a grade to the next higher, etc. This fault, ol 
course, does not apply in the case of the average grades since the 
grading system has a constant base at all grades. Since the I. Q. 
is an index and not a score, it could only be used for correlations 
within a grade for comparison with scores but might be used for all 
grades for comparisons with other indices (the school marks are 



♦Intelligence of School Children, p. 119. 

[41 



Study of Pupil Development 

obviously indices). The mental age, in contrast, is a true score and 
might be used but it is open to the objection that the same mental 
age score might stand for pupils representing all three grades and 
hence introduce an error by virtue of the fact of unequal training 
effects in the different grades. This effect would most likely be 
most serious in subjects receiving direct training in the grades 
under discussion, e. g., language, and least serious in those subjects 
where the direct training has ceased several grades below the ones 
here concerned, e. g., in the Courtis tests. These considerations form 
the argument for the use of the weighted averages of the Pearson 
coefficients. 

In the Stone tests only the reasoning scores are concerned. In 
the Courtis tests the scores for the four operations are combined. 
This is a purely arbitrary procedure, but since a point gained in 
addition is not so very unequal to one for subtraction or multiplica- 
tion, the errors may tend to balance one another to a large extent. 
At any rate, for our purposes, it was desirable to have a single 
value to stand for the ability in the fundamentals of arithmetic 
processes. 

Table 48 shows the weighted average correlations arranged in 
order of magnitude. 

TABLE 47 

Showing the Pearson coefficients of correlation for the intelligence quotients 
and the scores made in the standard educational tests by grades. 





Grade 


VII 


Grade 


VIII 


Grade 


IX 


Name of Test 


r 


P.E. 


r 


P.E. 


r 


P.E. 


,Stone (Reasoning) 


0.715 


.055 


0.590 


.066 






Gregory 


0.559 


.082 


0.661 


.057 






Average Grades 


0.396 


.099 


0.535 


0.65 


0.471 


.093 


Courtis (Sums) 


0.342 


.103 


0.306 


.087 






Kansas S. E. 


0.298 


.109 


0.702 


.052 






Ayres Spelling 


0.080 


.116 


0.263 


.094 


0.298 


.114 


Ayres Writing 


—0.350 


.102 


—0.034 


.101 


—0.159 


.120 


Douglass Algebra 










0.397 


.481 



TABLE 48 
Showing the weighted averages of the coefficients for the I. Q. and the 
various tests arranged in order of magnitude. 

Test Weighted Average Coefficient 

Stone Reasoning scores 0.65 

Gregory Language Test 0.62 

Kansas Silent Reading 0.53 

Average Grades 0.48 

Courtis ( Sums) 0.32 

Ayres Spelling 0.22 

Ayres Writing — 0.17 

[42] 



University of Oregon High School 

The correlation between the grades earned and the mental age 
ratings is 0.42, P. E., 0.76, which is slightly below the coefficient 
which Proctor reports for the 111 ninth grade pupils which he 
stiidied (r equals 0.45). The number of cases used for our correla- 
tion was 117. 

If the pupils of the school are classified upon the basis of the 
I Q. as before, into groups of superior, average and inferior, the 
correlations with the mental age for school marks are : 

Median Median 
Group N- r M. A. Grade 

Superior 50 0.23 16-3 84.1 

Average 48 0.29 14-4 80.4 

Inferior 18 0.18 11-11 77.5 

It seems to be true that pupils who are to be classified as of 
average ability are somewhat more likely to realize results in school 
work according to their ability than are either very able or very dull 
pupils. The medians for mental age and marks are quite uniformly 
graded among the three groups and suggests that such data can 
throw considerable light upon a problem which is of prime impor- 
tance in school practice, viz., the realization of the maximum efforts 
of each pupil and of the establishment of just standards of attain- 
ment. 

With the use of a grading system like the one in use in the 
University High School where the assignment of school marks must 
follow approximately the distribution of the normal curve, it is 
possible to equalize the distribution of grades and to attain a 
standard which is relatively just, i. e., the pupils can be graded with 
respect to each other. This plan has generally proved more work- 
able than attempts at grading upon any absolute basis. The rela- 
tive grading plan does, however, require that the standards be 
"set" according to the abilities of the group of pupils in such a 
way as not to be unfair to any particular unit of the pupils, e. g., to 
discriminate against the dull group, or to prevent differentiation at 
the upper levels in advent of low standards. 

In order to attempt to evaluate the standards used for grading 
in the University High School, the actual distribution of the 
assigned grades will be compared with the best-fitting normal curve 
for this actual distribution. The table below shows the actual 
number of each letter grade given, the theoretical number assigned 
to the best-fitting curve, and the approximate numbers for the 

[43] 



study of Pupil Development 

normal curve. In using the letter grades, the mid-points were taken 
as before as 97.5, 92.5, 87.5, etc. 

TABLE 49 

Approximate 

Letter Theoretical theoretical Actual 
Grade numbers ntimhers numbers 

A+ 1.56 2 1 



A 9.73 


10 


4 


B+ 29.55 


30 


30 


B 43.75 


44 


51 


C 31.40 


31 


24 


D 11.05 


11 


13 


E 1.89 


2 


6 


Average, 82.29. 






Sigma, 5.89. 






N=129. 







It will be noted from these figures that the actual distribution 
of grades is skewed slightly from the normal toward the lower end 
of the scale. This is in part due to the fact that the average grades 
are somewhat lower than the true grades as explained in a preced- 
ing section, and partly due to the super-normal numbers of very 
low grade pupils in the school (see tables of distributions for the 
intelligence quotients). On the other hand, the very large numbers 
of exceptionally high grade pupils which have been described as 
characteristic of this school, fail to reveal their presence in the 
upper ranges of the grading scale. The skewness of the curve 
would seem to mean either one or both of two alternatives : 

1. That the standards are luiiformly too severe in this school, or 

2. That the high grade pupils are not doing their maximum 
quality of work. 

There is some evidence to be had for both views. In the first 
place, 13 C and 6 D grades were given — a total of 19, whereas the 
theoretical indicates but 13 failures (D's and E's). The numbers 
of failures is therefore somewhat excessive. On the other hand, but 
five pupils receive A or above when 12 should score that much 
according to the normal distribution figures. This, in view of the 
marked skewness of the curve of the distribution of the I. Q.'s at 
the upper ranges, would indicate that the work of the most intelli- 
gent pupils does not approach the maximum attainment to as per- 
fect a degree as for other groups. The truth of this conclusion 
again must be tempered in the light of the fact that children of 
superior ability tend to be accelerated and are thus subjected to 

[44 1 



University of Oregon High School 

greater competition than normal children. All in all, the evidence 
does not seem to point to the existence of any considerable injustice 
to any group arising from the standards of scholarship in the 
school, but it does show that with more attention to the assignment 
of grades there could be maintained a somewhat closer approxima- 
tion to the theoretical curve, particularly in the extreme ranges. 

As to the possibility that the most able pupils do not realize as 
fully their highest possible attainment as do the normal and inferior 
groups, the evidence follows : 

TABLE 50 

Giving the median scores for the Superior (I. Q. 's 111 or above), Average 
(I. Q. 's 90-110), and Inferior (I. Q.'s 89 or less) groups for all grades. 
Sexes combined. 

Average 
Group No. C. A. M. A. I. Q. Alpha Chicago Grades 

Superior 50 13-1 16-2 121.0 108.0 45.0 83.0 

Average 50 14-4 14-3 101.0 81.0 36.0 81.0 

Inferior 20 15-8 11-10 84.5 65.0 25.5 77.0 

It will be noted that although the average pupil earns grades 
four points above the inferior, the superior pupil earns but two 
points more than the average. In practically all of the scores except 
the grades the medians for the superior group are higher by a 
larger margin from the average than the latter are in turn from the 
inferior, but at the same time it must be remembered that the 
superior pupils are actually younger than the others and are likely 
to be accelerated and hence subjected to more intense competition. 
The evidence is therefore not very conclusive. 

In conclusion it should be pointed out that many other lines of 
investigation, conclusions, applications, and the like, have been 
suggested which, for reasons of the limitations of space, must be 
neglected. Specifically there are certain questions involving the 
diagnostic values of tests of intelligence or of pedagogical accom- 
plishment which are deserving of attention. One such case was 
pointed out in passing in the matter of the discovery of the reasons 
for the poor showing of the three arithmetic sections in the funda- 
mentals of arithmetic. Here it was possible to check up the testi- 
mony of the teachers concerned, with the more objective measures 
of experimental education. That the teachers were agreed upon the 
position that the fault was to be traced to poor instruction in the 
lower grades of the elementary- school suggested the plan of check- 
ing the abilities in the four fundamental processes as measured by 

[45] 



Study of Pupil Development 

the Courtis tests against the more intellectual processes of reasoning 
and inference brought into play in the tests devised by Stone. In 
case of the latter, as well as in the former, the accuracy scores 
revealed again the early weakness of formal instruction in this 
subject, but at the same time, indicated a tendency toward improve- 
ment under the force of later instruction and also that there was no 
sub-normal accomplishment in the types of problems characteristic 
of the higher parts of the elementary school curriculum. Actual 
tracing back of the difficulty through the lower grades in consulta- 
tion with the Superintendent of the Eugene Schools revealed cor- 
roborative evidence that these pupils had received the major portion 
of their instruction in the fundamentals of arithmetic at the hands 
of an unskilled teacher who was later dismissed from the system. 
This evidence establishes almost beyond doubt the correctness of the 
inferences drawn from examination and comparison of the scores 
from the two standard arithmetic tests. 

Other questions of the diagnostic values of the various types of 
tests might well be considered if space were available, since there is 
every indication that this phase of school measurement is but be- 
ginning to attract the attention of workers in the elementary field. 
Diagnosis will in all probability be a prime characteristic of the 
newer tests and the newer methods of experimental education. If 
any new light has been shed upon the application of experimental 
methods in the course of this survej^ of a single school, the efforts 
expended are well repaid. 



SUMMARY 

Briefly stated the main conclusions presented in this discussion 
are: 

1. In view of the value of the results of intelligence testing 
from the administrative angle, the amount of time required for 
tests cannot reasonably be held to be prohibitive. 

2. Group tests will not ordinarily be found satisfactory for 
individual diagnosis, but will usually suffice for the purposes of 
mass measurements. 

3. Teachers' estimates of intelligence are not likely to prove 
substitutes for individual testing, even if the reliability of such 
estimates might be very high, because the data on those pupils mis- 
judged by their teachers is the very data which are most needed. 

[46] 



University of Oregon High School 



4. The pupils of the University High School were found to be 
a composite group composed of two distinct elements ; first, pupils 
from University faculty homes and other homes of professional 
people, and secondly, pupils representative of homes of low economic 
level. These factors must necessarily be reckoned with in the inter- 
pretation of certain of the findings. 

5. Group test "Army Alpha" was found to have a somewhat 
greater reliability than the "Chicago Group Intelligence Test" in 
comparison with the Binet tests. 

6. Retardation as a school problem must shortly be re-studied 
in the light of the newer facts of individual differences brought 
forward by the use of intelligence tests and other objective measures. 

7. In the majority of cases, pupils classified as retarded by the 
usual standards are really accelerated upon the basis of mental age, 
and the reverse is true for accelerated pupils. 

8. Accelerated pupils, although actually younger, are able to 
more than maintain their position in competition with children who 
are "at age" as is shown by school marks, but retarded pupils do 
not succeed in holding their own in their class in spite of their 
greater age. 

9. Retarded pupils furnish about three-fifths of the total fail- 
ures of the school. 

10. The pupils of the University High School show satisfactory 
abilities in all school subjects tested except arithmetic and writing. 
In the case of the former the reason was proved to lie in poor 
instruction in the lower grades. 

11. Boys are slightly inferior to girls as measured by the grades 
received in school. The range of grades is somewhat larger in the 
case of the girls. 

12. The results of the Stone tests seem to indicate that the diffi- 
culties in arithmetic are to be diagnosed as inability to handle the 
fundamental processes in contrast with the ability to reason. 

13. The physical measurements show that the Oregon pupils 
are both taller and heavier than eastern children. The only pub- 
lished norms which approximate the results for the western children 
are those of Baldwin. 

14. The most marked superiority of the University High School 
pupils in the physical traits studied was found to be the much better 
development of lung capacity and the vital index. 

[ 47 ] 



Study of Pupil Development 

15. The new method of correlating physical and mental traits 
advocated here seemed to indicate the presence of correlation be- 
tween the vital index and intelligence. 

16. Strength of grip did not seem to show relation with intelli- 
gence, at least not in the case of girls. 

17. The possibility of the use of intelligence tests and tests of 
pedagogical accomplishment as the basis for promotions, grading, 
and similar questions of school progress, is rapidly becoming evi- 
dent as a method of surmounting the lock-step evil in education. 

18. Forced promotions, where unavoidable, can be made with a 
high degree of reliability by the use of objective measures. 

19. Correlations of abilities in school subjects with general 
intelligence show the highest coefficients in the language and rea- 
soning tests and the lowest in spelling and writing. School marks 
and arithmetical ability are intermediate. 

20. The grading system of the University High School is prob- 
ably too severely enforced at the upper ranges as is shown by super- 
imposing the best-fitting normal curve on the actual distribution. 
There is also some evidence that the superior child fails to approach 
maximal efficiency as closely as do less able pupils. 



[48] 



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